Simpsons - how to use them in a Geography lesson

It has managed to sustain a tremendously high quality for hundreds of episodes (apart from that Ricky Gervais one...*) There is a fantastic Simpsons list of links at the rather wonderful "Look at This" aggregator blog which has links to ALL the major Simpsons websites of which, of course, there are lots. There are also places where you can find Simpsons clips and screenshots to use in powerpoints or as a point of reference on worksheets to accompany the videos (which are all conveniently around 15 minutes long...)

Geography teachers have often found a use for particular Simpsons episodes as they have tackled most of the important themes (which of course is also something which Geography does...) they cover.

WEBSITES

http://www.justdohit.co.uk/ - some useful multimedia resources - remember of course that the Simpsons is copyrighted material, as listed at the bottom of the page.

http://www.duffzone.co.uk/content.php?title=elist - screenshots of episodes: ideal for starters and tagging sections of worksheets to tasks

http://www.homerize.com/ - rather wonderful site

http://www.homerize.com/guide/s01.php - a great episode guide !!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_(The_Simpsons) - a great WIKIPEDIA article on Springfield - useful Geographical information - could use it to set up a Content Generator style quiz or activity related to the town

THE EPISODES

So how are you going to get hold of them ?

Well, I can only recommend the legal ways of course. The programs are available to purchase on video and DVD - not all seasons are currently available. Programs are also regularly broadcast on Channel 4 and more regularly on Sky One (there was a marathon of episodes featuring Homer on Father's Day for example, and there are often 4 episodes a night...) Sky One schedules are available at

http://www.sky.com/skycom/tvguide/0,,495-0,00.html

Some particular episodes include the visits to places such as Brazil, Japan, Kenya, Italy and the UK. The visit to Australia goes with a rather useful episode which mentions the coriolis effect. A useful starter for this topic. I used it with Year 12 pupils during an OFSTED visit once, and the JAPAN episode is also rather good.

For episode information, I am indebted to The DUFF GARDENS site which has an excellent set of illustrated episode guides and lots of other material. http://www.duffzone.co.uk/content.php?title=elist

Starts with a heatwave in Springfield - amusing shots of the effects of the heat - good intro for extreme environments (heat) or weather and climate.

Starts with the famous shot of the water circling down the plughole - cue a discussion on the coriolis effect and Australian themes...

Illegal immigration is the issue here, with some useful sections as Apu tries to gain his citizenship as an 'American Indian...'. Also good for Americans' lack of geographical knowledge e.g. Homer locating Springfield on the map.

Environmental issues - Homer tries to bury trash. Episode is dedicated to memory of Linda McCartney

Simpsons visit Japan - cue stereotypes of USA and Japan - a good introduction to the country...

For a limited period, HERE is a powerpoint produced by VV.

If the download link doesn't work, check back next month...

HERE is a shortened version (PPT, 383 Kb) which features 8 key slides - print it 4 slides to a page as a handout and it will be a good double sided A4 sheet for the students to refer to.

Simpsons visit Kenya after Homer wins a prize in a box of animal crackers, and they head for Ngorongoro...

Simpsons visit Brazil, following disappearance of a South American orphan Lisa is sponsoring

"The cartoon characters found that Rio de Janeiro is a city where all men are bisexual, where fearsome monkeys roam the streets, and tourists are kidnapped by taxi drivers and mugged by children."

The Simpsons visit the UK and meet a load of stereotypes of the UK... - good for 'My Place' and UK / Britain units.

A trip is taken to the Springfield Glacier, what's left of it, and Lisa bemoans the effects of global warming. The episode starts with a great pan out from Homer's head and back again, and later on the action moves to Sprawl-Mart (not a parody of Wal Mart) in the same way as Blocko Land is not Legoland (although Bart slips up and calls it Lego at one point)

Trying to adopt an orphan in China for Selma - visit to China and exploration of culture and one child...

A visit to Italy to pick up a car for Mr. Burns - small town Italy and vendettas...

India and call centres - outsourcing to India for Homer and good scenes where people change accents depending on where they take calls from. Homer thinks he's going to Indiana rather than India...

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